The e-mail newsletter of the Council of Chief State School Officers
- CCSSO Responds to the 2007 Nation’s Report Card ™
- Education Leaders Participate in CCSSO Conference on Using Data to Improve Instruction
- CCSSO Launches SchoolDataDirect Website with Data Download Tool
- CCSSO Announces National Conference on Student Assessment Request for Proposals
- The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises Releases The Achievement Trap
CCSSO Responds to the 2007 Nation’s Report Card ™
By Paul Ferrari
On Tuesday, September 25, The Nation's Report Card ™, a national assessment of educational progress, administered to 4th and 8th graders in math and reading was released. CCSSO notes gains made by lower income, African American, and Hispanic students, and believes that the results reflect the continued efforts of the nation’s educators to improve student achievement. The report also highlights data that show 4th grade math and reading scores are higher than in previous assessments. Eighth grade results show a higher score in math than in all previous assessments and a slight increase in scores for reading since 2005.
CCSSO Executive Director Gene Wilhoit responds, “Overall, student performance continues to improve at a steady pace, and performance in almost every racial/ethnic group is increasing. However, the data also show us the historic achievement gaps are not decreasing consistently.” Wilhoit continues, “Another issue to watch is the small number of students testing at the ‘advanced’ level. Both of these issues are of great concern to chief state school officers, and we will continue to address them.”
The National Assessment of Education Progress is administered by the National Center for Education Statistics within the U.S. Department of Education’s Institute of Education Sciences. It is authorized by Congress and overseen by the National Assessment Governing Board.
Education Leaders Participate in CCSSO Conference on Using Data to Improve Instruction
By Rolf Blank
CCSSO hosted a unique conference for state and district leaders in St. Louis, MO, September 12–14, focused on models for using data to improve instruction. Over 200 leaders from 30 states across the country participated in the event. CCSSO planned the conference with the primary goal of assisting leaders in moving beyond collection and reporting of data, toward greater focus on identifying effective strategies and tools for using data to improve instruction and to provide training on how to implement database approaches to improvement in schools. Several highlights of the conference were
- an opening panel featuring Chiefs Gerald Zahorchak (PA) and Susan Castillo (OR), and deputies from Minnesota and Rhode Island explaining how state policies can be formulated to merge education improvement initiatives with training for improved use of data within schools
- keynote speakers for the conference were Dr. Mike Schmoker, nationally-know author and consultant on organizing schools to use data in instructional improvement, and Dr. Margaret Heritage, UCLA/CRESST expert on teachers’ use of formative assessment data in classrooms
- in breakout sessions, 32 state and local leader teams shared their experience and evidence from use of data-based strategies and tools for raising the quality of instruction
- Chief Douglas Christensen (NE) led a panel of Nebraska educators in discussing results from a statewide approach for using data for purposes of accountability as well as school-based decisions for increasing effectiveness of instruction
CCSSO was very pleased with the high interest of education leaders in this second annual CCSSO leaders training conference, as well as the high quality of sessions explaining the results from strategies that have been demonstrated across the U.S. The conference was hosted and organized by CCSSO’s Surveys of Enacted Curriculum (SEC) state collaborative project. To review the conference sessions and materials, please click here.
For more information about the SEC state collaborative project, please contact Rolf Blank at rolfb@ccsso.org or 202-336-7044.
CCSSO Launches SchoolDataDirect Website with Data Download Tool
By Paige Kowalski
SchoolDataDirect (www.SchoolDataDirect.org) is now available as the nation’s single online source for state education data. Under the guidance of the newly created State Education Data Center (SEDC), SchoolDataDirect will provide free and easy to use state education data and analytic tools to the public. SchoolDataDirect has many of the same features as its predecessor, SchoolMatters.com; however, SchoolDataDirect offers a significant new tool which allows data collectors to download state education data directly from the website.
The SEDC is a service of the Council of Chief State School Officers, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as part of the Council’s National Education Data Partnership (NEDP). The SEDC represents the “next generation” of work CCSSO began over three years ago with the National Education Data Partnership, through CCSSO’s SchoolMatters.com.
The Education Information Management Advisory Consortium (EIMAC) and the SEDC’s Advisory Council will guide the future direction of SchoolDataDirect. For more information on the SEDC and SchoolDataDirect, please visit the NEDP webpage or contact Paige Kowalski at paigek@ccsso.org.
CCSSO Announces National Conference on Student Assessment Request for Proposals
By Frank Phillip
CCSSO’s National Conference on Student Assessment is being held in Orlando on June 15–18, 2008, and the Council is requesting session proposals. CCSSO changed the name of this conference from the National Conference on Large-Scale Assessment to the National Conference on Student Assessment to better reflect the Council’s emphasis on balanced and coherent assessment systems.
The deadline for submitting session proposals is October 19, and the Council is seeking additional sessions on classroom level (formative) assessment and other forms of assessment for learning. New participation from teachers and local administrators who might benefit from additional information and research in these areas is being requested, and the Council’s Planning and Session Selection Committee has been augmented with new members that are authorities on instructionally sensitive classroom assessment.
The changes in the conference represent a shift from a 37-year emphasis on large-scale assessment that began with the birth of National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) in the early 1970s. The conference, affectionately called the Boulder Meeting, was originally focused on the psychometric issues and concerns generated as these tests were launched, and over the years, it grew as more states introduced and used state assessments and nationally-normalized tests. Many members of the small group that originally met under the trees in the courtyard of the Harvest House Hotel in Boulder, CO, are still regulars at the modern conference which now attracts 1,300 participants.
The National Conference on Student Assessment webpage also features the complete conference planning calendar for the 2007-2008 year and the presentation materials from the June 2007 Nashville conference. For more information, contact Frank Philip at frankp@ccsso.org or 202-336-7046.
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises Releases The Achievement Trap
The Jack Kent Cooke Foundation and Civic Enterprises recently released a report presenting original research on the education of millions of students who are performing in the top academic quartile and are from families in the bottom half of the American income distribution. The Achievement Trap: How America is Failing Millions of High-Achieving Students from Lower-Income Families examines the experiences of lower-income students who have exceptional academic potential but struggle at every stage of their education to maintain and develop their talents and abilities.
The report estimates that there are 3.4 million top-performing lower-income students, and that at first grade they are fully representative of both boys and girls, of every major racial and ethnic group, and of every type of neighborhood across the United States. The report also finds that these students are not adequately served during the educational process. Lower-income students are less likely than their higher-income peers to maintain or enter into high levels of academic performance throughout elementary and high school, and are much less likely to attain undergraduate and graduate degrees.
To view the full report and press release, visit the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation website.
The Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) is a nonpartisan, nationwide, nonprofit organization of public officials who head departments of elementary and secondary education in the states, the District of Columbia, the Department of Defense Education Activity, and five U.S. extra-state jurisdictions. CCSSO provides leadership, advocacy, and technical assistance on major educational issues. The Council seeks member consensus on major educational issues and expresses their views to civic and professional organizations, federal agencies, Congress, and the public.
